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Why I Hate This Tax Season and Why It Hates Me Back

Posted by Aloysa on February 19th, 2013

Tax season is upon us (in case you have not noticed it yet.) I noticed it a long time ago, and not because I really enjoy this time of the year or find it fascinating. If anything, I find it cumbersome. Quite disturbing. Alarming. I pick a night to work on my taxes, I pour myself a glass of wine, settle in front of my computer and by the time I open my spreadsheets and glance over my tax forms, I want to give up on a glass of wine and look for the bottle. I feel like I am clawing my way out of the tax mess hour by hour, day by day. It is overwhelming.

I have to admit that my previous tax seasons were not as painful and time consuming as this one. This one is kicking my butt. Big time. I am trying to punch it’s face in return. So far very unsuccessfully. So I hate it. And it hates me back.

I created this mess myself. I made a lot of mistakes last year from shopping like a deranged shopaholic to not saving enough. But my greatest mistake is going to cost me some money this year.

Things I Did Wrong Preparing For the Tax Season:

I did not gather all my receipts in one place. The receipts are scattered in all different places. It is taking me forever to search for them. I found most of them but one is still missing. The most important one – charitable donations.

I did not reconcile my Paypal account last year. Not even once. Now I am sweating over it because numbers do not add up. This is the most time-consuming task of all. I did not keep a good record of my Paypal transactions last year. Now, I am spending hours going through my account, trying to reconcile and balance it. It is turning into a nightmare.

I did not revisit my withholdings last year. Now I have to pay more in taxes. I hate this fact. Some people recommend minimizing withholdings in spite of the fact that it means paying up at tax time. The argument is that minimizing your withholdings gives you more money at your disposal. It is all good until you realize that savings account interest rates are at almost zero. I’d rather get a tax refund. But this is not happening this year.

I did not organize my time enough, and I ended up working on my taxes sporadically, doing several things at the same time. I am exhausted. I like some sort of organization, some sort of schedule. I definitely like to establish a routine. When things don’t fit into my organized schedule or routine, it throws me off, and I stress.

I promised myself that for next tax season I am going to devise a much better system.

Envelopes. I am going to have separate envelopes for all my receipts and tax forms I receive throughout the year. I will store them in one place.

Better tax planning. I am going to revisit my withholdings and calculate (estimate) what needs to be done.

Aloysa,
Is there not some kind of free service in your area? The university in town — my alma mater — offers a free tax service for Missouri residents and families who made less than $50,000. They do federal and state taxes for you.

Also, don’t wish a tax return on yourself! That’s an interest-free loan the government had from you. Yes, it’s a bummer to pay taxes too. Ideally, your withholdings lead to $0 changing hands between you and the government at tax time.

No one likes tax season but what I do like is being organized. I hated having to rush around looking for receipts, documents bla bla bla. Now every year we start off with folders each and envelopes and everything goes straight in right away. It’s made the crappy process of tax season just a bit better. CheersCanadian Budget Binder recently posted..The Grocery Game Challenge #8 February 18-24, 2013~Buy Now or Buy Later

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Aloysa is a blogger and does not take any responsibility for the financial advice she might offer. All information provided on this site is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute professional financial advice.